I'm planning on removing the old sheet vinyl flooring in my small kitchen and installing a new floating vinyl floor (looking at using Allure from HomeDepot). I just started to rip up the old vinyl and have three questions:

1. Can I leave the old underlayment and reuse it for the new floating vinyl?

2. If yes, I know I will have to remove any adhesive residue, can I use the scraping method that's recommended for concrete floors? Or is there another residue-removing method for underlayment since it's wood?

3. Being that floating vinyl adheres to each other instead of the floor, are minor imperfections in the old underlayment ok? I think after scraping, a very thin layer of old adhesive may still remain (and also tiny dents/holes resulting from previous use), but can these issues be overlooked for floating vinyl as long as the old underlayment is level and in decent condition?


I am really hoping that I won't have to install new underlayment as I'm not sure if I have the skills/tools required. So any advice or wisdom would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

Welcome to the forums! What type underlayment do you have? Is it concrete backer underlayment of plywood?
1) If it is flat and clean.
2) Probably not, as it is in the grains of the cbu.
3) No, any aberrations in the underlayment will telegraph to and through the tile you install, so you need a smooth substrate.

 

The old adhesive, multi-purpose I assume, won't stick to the new vinyl. But the floor does need to be smooth.

 

Just to reinforce - the floor needs to be smooth, you'll see bumps and divots through the vinyl and be very unhappy with them

 

The floating floor is designed to cover imperfections in the sub floor.
You did not need to pull the existing vinyl floor.
R.C

 

Believe, me, and I honor your expertise, Roy, but any problem you have with the existing floor or subflooring will telegraph through allure, and could possibly cause seam failure if the booger falls in the seam area. That is the biggest problem with the product.

 

thank you all for your advice! i put in the floor a week ago and decided to leave the original underlayment in (simply did not have the resources or the manpower to put in a new one). it was in decent condition, pretty level and i tried my very best to scrape off any residual adhesive that created any noticeable bumps and imperfections.

that said, the new Allure flooring looks great it's been as advertised so far, so hopefully it will stay that way for a while.

chtwroy/chandler: i did/had to rip up the old vinyl because it had already started peeling at a seam that was located at the center of the room, making a noticeable raised ledge.